Xylem & Manchester City: All To Play For

Explore the inside story behind how SPORTFIVE worked with Xylem and Manchester City to launch the 'All To Play For' campaign.

In this Success Story:

Challenge

For the past five years, SPORTFIVE has acted as Xylem’s retained activation agency, leveraging Xylem’s partnership with Manchester City and brand ambassador Pep Guardiola to raise awareness of global water challenges.

To further elevate this partnership, SPORTFIVE were tasked to develop a campaign that inspired genuine action among football fans, emphasising that individual actions play a huge part in tackling water challenges.

2023 marked the halfway point for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, presenting a pivotal moment to deliver a powerful call to action on water conservation to a global football audience.

Solution

The 'All To Play For' campaign was executed in two phases:

Phase 1:

Launched in December 2023, Phase 1 featured a spoofed fly-on-the-wall halftime team talk with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City stars, an impactful piece of video content produced by SPORTFIVE's in-house production studio. Together Pep and his team encouraged fans to unite for a big second-half push, emphasising that individual actions contribute to solving global water challenges. A key component of Phase 1 was the creation and distribution of a Water Play Book, filled with practical tips and actions for living more water-responsibly.

Phase 2:

Kicking off on World Water Day (22 March 2024), Phase 2 highlighted the importance of adopting and maintaining positive water usage habits. The campaign drew parallels between consistency in football and water responsibility, encouraging lasting behaviour change.

Building on established messaging, Phase 2 featured a digital campaign encouraging user-generated content (UGC), allowing fans to showcase their water-saving actions. An experiential activation at Etihad Stadium included the ‘shower timer challenge,’ a physical challenge that prompted fans to reconsider their water use. This activation was supported by a digital shower timer podcast, distributed globally through a targeted paid media campaign.

Outcome

The campaign exceeded all expectations, achieving over 300 million impressions and attracting over 1 million visits to the campaign landing page. Most importantly, it inspired over 60,000 individual actions among football fans, including over 50,000 downloads of the Water Play Book and over 1,000 UGC entries.

The campaign demonstrated a significant impact on water conservation efforts with 89% of fans answering that the campaign offered valuable water-saving tips and 90% of the audience stating that they are committed to taking action to save water.

This case study highlights the power of strategic partnerships and creative campaigns in driving meaningful change. Through innovative activation and effective messaging, Xylem were able to successfully engage a global audience, fostering a collective effort towards their brand mission to solve water.